Gun For Hire's "Saving the Protagonist"

This is a review of an album put out by a handful of dudes that I go to school with. Solid dudes, solid music. I secretly hope that they got their name from the chorus of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", but somehow I doubt it.

"A burning flame. Yeah buddy."

These five words open Gun For Hire's debut EP Saving the Protagonist, and vocalist Andy Leonard could not have screamed a more perfect description of the group as a whole. Though the lyrics go on to somewhat cryptically describe a topic more intense than the drive and intent of a band, the spark is there.

The brainchild of music school students, Gun For Hire's instrumentation packs intensity and brutality alongside precision musicianship. The opening track "Brotherhood: Bloodline" sets the tone for the rest of the recording, opening with heavy, (what I can assume are) open, palm muted chords complimented by Leonard's growl.

Throughout the seven tracks on Protagonist Gun For Hire very rarely drops the intensity, flowing somewhat flawlessly between keys and time signatures. Guitarist Scott Hoon's elaborate riffs are rarely repeated, solidly drifting atop a consistently heavy rhythm section. Hoon does not completely disregard flare, throwing solos into instrumental breaks and filling dead stop pauses with quick leads.

Leonard's vocals primarily growl through his imagery filled lyrics, though he occasionally slips into melodic singing, mostly escapoing the genre trappings that haunt users of the same vocal device.

Saving the Protagonist provides an introduction to a talented band pushing toward a larger goal. While remaining solid overall, the EP lacks a certain sense of cohesiveness, a small improvement that has the potential to be corrected on a full length or second EP.

-Justin Lutz

Updates, expectations, works in progress

Ok, so much time has passed with little updates, John and I have both been busy running here, running there, writing this, writing that. Here's a smattering of updates regarding what we've been doing.

- A few weeks ago I cruised over to the Chameleon Club in Lancaster to check out a show with Murder by Death, Builders and the Butchers, Fake Problems, and Perkasie. Perkasie are local favorites, and I have never been dissappointed by a live show from this Lancaster sextet. They manage to mix the best parts of folk, ragtime, swagger, and punk energy to form a wonderful ball of harmony. At the show I managed to scuttle backstage and interview MBD frontman Adam Turla, and a proper article regarding the band is coming soon.

- Weeks before the MBD show I was fortunate enough to see a childhood favorite - Powerman 5000- at the same club in Lancaster. The show review and resulting journey and experiences are coming soon as well.

- Just recently John and I both managed to frequent the 13th annual Millenium Music Conference at the Radisson Hotel in Harrisburg. I typed up a log of my travels, and the article should be appearing in the next issue of Shinbone Magazine, so keep an eye out for that.

- Upcoming projects include interviews with Winnipeg's Propagandhi (hopefully!), NJ's Bouncing Souls, and MN's Dillinger Four. Keep your fingers crossed for a Paint it Black interview as well. That's all I have for the moment, in the meantime check out these links and really awesome bands!

http://www.ninebullets.net/

http://www.punknews.org/

www.myspace.com/pedalsonourpirateships

-awesome pirate folk band from Richmond, VA

www.myspace.com/thegaslightanthem

-NJ Springsteen revivalists, top of my 2008 list!

Let Me Run Won't Be Meeting Anyone at the Bottom Just Yet

When Travis Omilian shouts "We can carry the weight of this town on our backs tonight", few things have sounded more urgent or more sincere, and he erases any possibility of corny lyrical cliches when he sings "I wear my shoes down to the skins from stomping the ground to the rhythm of my sins".

These lyrical bombshells are both included in the opening song on Let Me Run's Meet Me At The Bottom, a song that sets the tone for the remainder of the album. Lyrically, topics run from the love of music and being young ("Bastard Sons of Mayhem") to being there for your friends ("Shane") and having drinking problems ("Like a Fish").

Omilian's words ring with a passion members of the punk rock community are hard pressed to find. the "I'll be there for you" vibe of "Shane" succeeds in being sincere while not inciting drunken bro-hugs in the bar, as Omilian sings "You can bend and break on me, I can break and bend on you, you can meet me at the bottom when you have to."

Even when covering something as fundamental as drinking problems Omilian delivers lines dripping with imagery and soaked in metapho. ("I sing the selfish songs of the sea, I'm like a fish ... I'm barely sober, but I'm starting over").

Musically Meet Me At The Bottom doesn't dazzle, because it doesn't need to. Solid melodic guitar parts give weight to Omilian's lyrics, while guitar player Corey Perez accentuates instrumental sections with simple leads that smoothly cruise rather than soar.

The whole record is held in a simple yet beautiful jacket depicting all facets of a grandfather clock. The only confusion with the album arises from how the artwork coincides with the title of the record or the lyrical content. However, judging from the way Let Me Run carry themselves in all other musical facets, the artwork was not chosen lightly.

Though many listeners may stumble across Let Me Run through former label mates The Gaslight Anthem, the inclusion of the latter's Brian Fallon as a guest vocalist should be recognized as a collaboration between friends rather than a desperate grabe for coattails. Homestate and label are the only two similarities the bands share, and with Meet Me At The Bottom Let Me Run has solidified their spot on a list of quality New Jersey bands able to stand on their own feet.

~Justin

Springsteen's 'Dream' Could Still Use Some Work

Whether he knew it or not, Bruce Springsteen ushered in a new era of his career with the release of 2002's The Rising, an era that has continued through 2007's Magic, and an era that has waited in anticipation for this year's Working on a Dream. If Working serves as any milestone in Springsteen's three decade career, it acts as a stamp on a second era, indicating the end of a musical peak initiated with The Rising.
The album's opener, "Outlaw Pete", is an eight minute epic complete with soaring synth-strings and heavy vocal reverb. This ambitious leading track is a contender for the best on the album, dripping with the gruff passion and spot-on songwriting that fans have come to expect from Springsteen. The echoing chorus of "Can you hear me?" is haunting and powerful, the cornerstone of a song that would not have been out of place on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions or even The Rising.
Unfortunately, the majority of Working on a Dream fails to hit the mark set by "Outlaw Pete". The album's title track is slightly bouncier and more melodic, reminding the listener of some of the more likeable songs on Magic. "Working on a Dream", however, is soaked in lyrical cliche, and over half of the lyrics consist of the line "I'm working on a dream".
The lyrical quality continues to slide downhill in the album's deadweight track "Queen of the Supermarket". This song joins a long list of love songs written to nameless grocery store girls, only to fall short of all others that come to mind. The music's synth soaked 80's feel channels Meatloaf style frills, with Patti Scialfa sealing the comparison by crooning the song's title behind Bruce.
The next track, "What Love Can Do", is an acoustic guitar driven pop tune suitable for Top 40 radio. The song almost acts as a fulcrum, tipping the album into mediocrity by the end of its last organ tinged chorus. The half of the album that follows is largely forgettable, punctuated by a few gems along the way. "Tomorrow Never Knows" sounds like a We Shall Overcome outtake, with Bruce's vocals sounding the most honest since "Outlaw Pete". "Surprise Surprise" tries hard to be more lackluster than "Queen of the Supermarket", and only falls short by inches. Its lyrics act as reminders of why listeners skip half of the tracks on Magic.
"The Last Carnival" is the last proper album track, and is a fitting closer. Bruce growls end-of-the-day-is-coming lyrics over a sparse arrangement, using a powerful tune to seal the deal on a somwhat lacking collection of songs.
The real gem lies in The Boss's contribution to the movie The Wrestler. A somber acoustic tune tacked onto the end as a bonus track, the song is reminiscient of Devils and Dust, which served as a direction changing record for Springsteen.
Bruce Springsteen has built an undeniable legacy, and while Working on a Dream is certainly no Born To Run, it serves as the fourth in a series of albums that act as a document of the second coming of his career. If "The Wrestler" is any indication, another Devils and Dust is just around the corner.

~Justin

Welcome, first post!

Hello all, this is the first post of what will inevitably grow to be a valuable companion to the print version of the Ragazine. This blog will feature interviews, reviews, articles, and rants from Crazy John Kerecz and myself. The emphasis will be put on the greater Harrisburg and central Pennsylvania areas, and the objective will be to cover and promote independent, underground, grassroots, and unsigned artists and bands in an attempt to strengthen the community that music creates and allow us to share ideas and new bands.
I hope you all find the content here stimulating and useful in your travels and pursuit of independent music! I'm sure John will also type an introductory post, so be ready!

Justin Lutz
jll006@lvc.edu